Donald Trump Calls Sen. Mark Kirk a Loser During GOP Sit-Down (UPDATED)

• UPDATED (5:43 p.m. Thursday, July 7): Includes U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk's comments to The Associated Press.

Politics hath no fury like a billionaire presidential candidate scorned.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican, found that out Thursday when presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump lashed out at the lawmaker for his recent critical remarks concerning Trump's candidacy.

Trump characterized Kirk as a loser during what was described as a sometimes combative private meeting with Senate Republicans in Washington, D.C., according to the Washington Post. The presidential hopeful also predicted he would win President Barack Obama's home state of Illinois, despite the state traditionally voting Democrat in presidential elections, the Post reported.

In response to Trump's criticism, Kirk, who did not attend Thursday's meeting, gave only this self-effacing, one-sentence comment: "I guess he lit me up."

RELATED: Sen. Mark Kirk Backs Down From Supporting Donald Trump

Apparently unhappy with his initial off-the-cuff response, Kirk decided to trade verbal attacks with Trump, telling The Associated Press:

“We haven’t seen a personality like his too much in the Midwest. Eastern, privileged, wealthy bully. Our bullies are made of better stuff in Illinois. We’re much more practical and polite.”

While initially backing a Trump presidency earlier this year, Kirk recently has been publicly denouncing the candidate.

Last month, Kirk released a statement withdrawing his endorsement and support of Trump. He also said in a radio interview that Trump was "too bigoted and racist" for Illinois. These critical remarks followed Kirk's decision to skip this month's Republican National Convention in order to focus on his re-election campaign.

Kirk is running in November against Democrat candidate U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth in a hotly contested race. In April, Duckworth's campaign launched an attack ad that criticized Kirk's support of Trump.

RELATED: Donald Trump 'Too Bigoted and Racist' for Illinois: Sen. Mark Kirk

Kirk wasn't the only GOP senator on the receiving end of Trump's anger Thursday. Trump also targeted Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Ben Sasse of Nebraska, the Post reports.

In fact, Flake and Trump were involved in a particularly tense and awkward exchange during the meeting, according to the Post. After threatening to go on the attack against the senator in the future, Trump told Flake he would lose his re-election this year.

Flake, however, told Trump he wasn't on the ballot, the Post added.

More via the Washington Post

Like What You're Reading? Stay Patched In!

• Get News Alerts, Join Facebook Pages and Learn About Patch
• Learn how to create a Patch user account
• Like our Crime page on Facebook
• Live Traffic and Transit Updates